DETROIT — The Tigers will
designate starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis for assignment on Sunday, a
move they expect to end his disastrous Detroit career.
The move puts Willis onto waivers, but
a team claiming him would need to pick up the remainder of his $12
million salary.
If he goes unclaimed, the Tigers have
10 days to trade him, release him or option his contract to one of their
minor league teams. General manager Dave Dombrowski, though, said that
he doesn't think Willis will remain with the organization.
"This gives us a chance to try to
trade his contract — see if anyone would be interested," Dombrowski said
after Saturday's loss to Oakland. "I'm not anticipating that we would
option him out at this point, because he can say no to that, and I don't
think he would have any interest in that. I think it is a situation
where we have 10 days to see if someone would have interest in trading
for him at a major-league level."
Willis joined the team as part of the
same trade that brought Miguel Cabrera to Detroit after the 2007 season,
and signed a three-year, $29 million contract extension.
The 28-year-old lefty is a two-time
All-Star and a former NL Rookie of the Year who helped Florida win a
World Series in his first year and then was a 22-game winner two seasons
later.
But the former star who won 68 games
in five seasons for the Marlins has just two victories for the Tigers.
He has posted a 6.86 ERA in 24 games — 22 starts — while battling
injuries and anxiety disorders.
He missed two scheduled starts this
season with stomach problems, and has gone 1-2 with a 4.98 ERA in nine
games.
"I know how hard he worked, and I know
some of the stuff that he went through to try to get back, and it just
didn't work out, so it is sad," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "You
don't want to downplay that — it is sad — but Dontrelle's been in the
spotlight a lot and done a hell of a job and been rewarded for that. I
look back at the kids I had to release in A ball, where you shatter
their dream of ever getting a shot, and that's probably tougher."
The roster move was needed to make
room for pitcher Max Scherzer, who is returning from Triple-A Toledo to
start Sunday's game against Oakland.
Armando Galarraga, who is missing
Sunday's start after pitching 1 2/3 innings of relief on Friday, will
remain in the rotation. Galarraga is 1-1 in three games with Detroit
this year, including two starts, and went 4-2 in seven starts with
Toledo.
"It really came down to looking at a
decision between Galarraga and Willis," Dombrowski said. "We just felt
at this point that we were going to give Galarraga the ball. He has
pitched very well for us at Triple-A. Dontrelle has not thrown the ball
as well recently as he did early in the season, so we felt we were ready
to make the change."